It Is God's Pan

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has as its beginning the team of misfits on the galactic outpost called: “Knowhere”

Their lives are soon derailed by the echoes of Rocket’s past

Adam Warlock, the nemesis character from Vol. 2, a gold character (a super being created to kill the group) comes back into their lives.

Rocket is badly injured by the genetically designed mammalian. The group discovers he has a kill switch in his body that prevents him from receiving medical help.

The creator of their nemesis is a character called: “The High Evolutionary”

On a positive side:

The movie’s plot features good talk including displays of love, friendship, and family.

Each main character is soon doing their part to save Rocket. We interact with Rocket’s family: an otter, a walrus, and a rabbit

The film also reveals standing up to evil & aiding the helpless.

Also, the idea of mercy/grace in evidence of a second chance.

The talk of evolution is spoken of negatively.

On a downside:

The nemesis character, The High Evolutionary says: “There is no God! That’s why I stepped in!”

The movie proposes he is wrong and his subjects threaten to overthrow him.

There are also many positive references to God.

So we turn to an answer in Scripture.

Genesis 50:20 ESV

20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

You know the story of Joseph if you have been in church for a bit.

You know that Joseph is one of Jacob’s twelve sons.

Joseph had a knowledge that the Lord God was doing something in his life from a young age.

Yet his life was not without great levels of tribulation.

We Make Plans of Our Own

Notice how, at times, men don’t like their situation or how someone else’s situation seems better than their own.

Maybe we even look at the problem of evil in the world.

The problem leads to questions:

If God is omniscient;

If God is omnipotent;

If God is omnipresent;

If God is omni-benevolent;

How did this or that happen?

Why is the world the way it is?

Does God have capacity?

Does God have justice?

Does God exist?

When we focus on our questions without the eyes being opened to truth…we come to the same conclusion…it’s up to me to do something!

Or maybe we exclude God from the answer.

Or maybe we become angry enough at God that we believe His character different than The Word speaks.

Maybe we are asking the wrong question!

Joseph’s brothers took matters of their jealousy in their own hands.

Their desire was to place their brother in “his place.”

Genesis 50:20 (ESV)

20 As for you, you meant evil against me,

Joseph, righteous in his estimate of his brothers, had the right to be angry and act with vengeance.

They meant it for evil.

Their desire, all save one (Reuben), was to kill their brother.

But if the one who has the power to save, did not, His plan must include the struggle.

Joseph’s brothers made their own plans.

If the multitude of questions about the character of God are not the right questions, what is?

In Spite of Man’s Intentions, God’s Plan Comes to Fruition!

Genesis 50:20 (ESV)

20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Two Words:

But God!

I Think we have to consider what Joseph’s mind would have been thinking.

Yes, he has every right to be angry.

But it is God who controls his destiny.

What do we know of Joseph’s life after being sold?

He was enslaved

Slandered by Potiphar’s Wife

Pharaoh’s butler forgot about him in the dungeon.

All of these things began with the evil plan of the brothers.

But God!

I love the way John Piper speaks about this,

“The hardened disobedience of men’s hearts leads not to the frustration of God’s plans, but to their fruition.”

We might even ask the question here,

“How is it that the choices of Joseph’s brothers in their offense towards him are seen as sin and at the same time seen as outworking of God’s perfect/good purpose/plan?”

Answer:

God permitted the painful time in Joseph’s life to allow a preparation and fulfillment of His purpose in Joseph’s life and the world as a whole.

God’s Plan is Good!

Genesis 50:20 (ESV)

20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

The work of man does not stop the work of God.

God does not need our cooperation, but He desires it.

God does not need our help, but He uses us as we are obedient.

God is not inactive…waiting on man to act or move…that He might do something.

God is at work at all times bring about His plan…& it is Good.

The Psalmist says it well...

Psalm 105:16 ESV

16 When he summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply of bread,

Psalm 105:17 ESV

17 he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

God was not responding to the moral failure of the sons of Jacob.

He was using it for His purpose.

And it was Good.

Walking Away, But In...

Ask the right questions.

Find the right answer.

Walk with the pleasure that He brings good.